I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

The Investiture of the Gods!

When those three words echoed in the depths of his soul, Qian Youmin's mind went blank for a moment.

The expressions on the faces of Sun Mingde behind him, as well as all the researchers in the entire command hall bathed in the golden light of merit, froze.

Investiture of the Gods?

Is it the Investiture of the Gods, the mythological legend that determined the return of all the gods in the Three Realms to their rightful places and divided the order between immortals and mortals?

Aren't we conducting scientific research?

Why did the art style suddenly jump to Genesis?

Qian Youmin felt his throat was extremely dry.

His body, which had just been cleansed by the golden light of merit, was full of unprecedented vitality, and his thinking speed had increased several times over.

Even so, he couldn't immediately grasp the terrifying weight behind those three words.

"Dragon Lord..."

He spoke with difficulty, his voice trembling slightly, a tremor he himself was unaware of, "Are you... using a metaphor?"

This was his last struggle as a materialist scientist.

"simile?"

Within the dragon-shaped necklace, Li Chen's voice remained as indifferent as ever, as if stating an objective fact.

"In your understanding, what is a 'ranking'?"

Before Qian Youmin could answer, Li Chen asked and answered his own question.

"It is a list, a medium for recording information."

What is "God"?

"It is an existence that has mastered the rules and transcended the ordinary life form."

"The Investiture of the Gods is a vessel that carries the rules and records the information of the gods. In the cultivation world, it has another name—the Dao Artifact of Rules."

Dao artifacts!

Qian Youmin and Sun Mingde exchanged a glance, both seeing a raging storm in each other's eyes.

Although they didn't understand cultivation, they could feel the profound and vastness just from the literal meaning of the words.

"The Heavenly Court you have established cannot be just a slogan, an ethereal organization."

Li Chen's voice began to reveal just the tip of the iceberg for them.

"It needs a core, a central hub, a server to carry out the Heavenly Laws, allocate fortune, record merits, and confer divine titles."

server!

The fact that this modern term came from the mouth of Li Chen, this ancient dragon, was not out of place at all; on the contrary, it instantly enlightened Qian Youmin and the others!

That's it!

Their previous thinking was still limited.

Whether it is the separation of Geng metal or the stripping and regeneration of Yi wood, they are just individual processes.

And the Investiture of the Gods is the operating system that carries all of this!

It is the true root server belonging to the Heavenly Court!

"Those who are listed on the list will have their true spirits connected to the list and protected by the national destiny of China. As long as China does not perish and the national destiny continues, those whose names are on the list will have immortal true spirits, imperishable through countless eons."

"Those who are listed on the list may be granted a divine position according to their merits, and shall wield authority over certain rules. They shall act on behalf of Heaven to punish and protect all living beings."

"Those who are listed on the list will have their path of cultivation connected with that of hundreds of millions of Chinese people. The thoughts of the masses are the fuel, and the fate of the nation is the ladder, helping them ascend to the path of immortality."

Every word Li Chen uttered was like a heavy hammer, striking everyone's hearts.

The true spirit is immortal!

Take charge of the rules!

Ascend to the Immortal Path!

This is beyond immortality and cannot be described by wealth and glory.

This is... instant success!

It is a true story of a mortal becoming a god!

"Huff... huff..."

Sun Mingde, an academician in his sixties, was so excited that his face turned red and his breathing became rapid, like that of a young man who had just finished a 10,000-meter race.

He gripped Qian Youmin's arm tightly, his nails almost digging into his flesh.

"Old Qian...did you hear that? We...we're not building weapons for the country...we're...we're forging a god for China!"

Qian Youmin ignored him, his gaze fixed on the dragon-shaped necklace, his eyes blazing with an unprecedented light—a fiery mixture of a scientist's thirst for knowledge and an ambitious man's possessiveness.

"Dragon Lord!"

He stepped forward, his voice rising with excitement, "What is needed to forge the 'Investiture of the Gods'?"

He asked the question that everyone present was most concerned about.

Such a heaven-defying artifact could never have appeared out of thin air.

"good."

Li Chen uttered a single word in approval.

"To forge the 'Investiture of the Gods', three things are needed."

"Firstly, a vast amount of merit and vows are used to inscribe the rules; this is the software. What you have done today has already gathered the first batch of resources for starting this process."

"Secondly, a sufficiently robust 'physical carrier' is needed to support the rules; this is the 'hardware'."

"Thirdly, there is a 'main program,' which is a powerful true spirit that serves as the artifact spirit of the Investiture of the Gods, used to suppress fortune and command the gods. This is... the number one person at the top of the list."

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire command hall fell silent once again.

All eyes involuntarily turned to Qian Youmin.

In terms of merit, Qian Youmin, as the chief designer, deserves the greatest credit.

In terms of status, he was in charge of the entire Kunlun Project.

In terms of ability, he had just been baptized by merit, and his soul strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Who else but him is number one on the list?

Feeling the gazes directed at him, Qian Youmin's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

The number one person on the Investiture of the Gods!

What an honor this is! This is an unparalleled temptation that will shine for eternity and last forever with the nation!

However, he forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart, maintaining the last vestiges of a scientist's rationality, and asked respectfully.

"Lord Dragon, where should we look for the 'hardware' sufficient to bear the rules of Heaven?"

He knew very well that one must eat one bite at a time.

Without even the hardware, talking about being number one is just castles in the air.

"hehe……"

Li Chen let out a low laugh, a laugh tinged with a hint of wistful nostalgia.

"I prepared this hardware for you more than two thousand years ago."

More than two thousand years ago?!

Qian Youmin's pupils suddenly contracted.

Just then, a communications officer responsible for global information monitoring suddenly stood up, his voice shrill.

"Report! We have received top-priority intelligence from multiple channels!"

"The White House is frantically inquiring through all diplomatic channels... about how to obtain the test paper of divine grace!"

"The Kremlin spokesperson just announced that they will unconditionally support all of China's proposals at the United Nations, and inquired... whether 'devout believers' are needed!"

"The EU, ASEAN, the African Union... more than one hundred countries around the world sent urgent notes to our embassies at the same time! The content... was almost identical!"

Intelligence reports arrived one after another, like snowflakes.

The entire world went completely mad because of that divine decree from the dragon.

But at this moment, no one in the command hall cared about any of this.

Everyone's attention was completely captivated by Li Chen's words.

The hardware was prepared more than two thousand years ago?

What is that?

Li Chen stopped keeping everyone in suspense. His voice became solemn and dignified, as if he were about to unveil an epic that had been sealed away for thousands of years.

"Qian Youmin".

"Disciple is here!"

"Where did this wisp of my dragon soul come from?"

Qian Youmin was taken aback, then blurted out, "The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor!"

"That's right."

Li Chen's voice seemed to transcend time and space.

"Back then, I made a pact with the First Emperor: he would use the dragon's energy of the nation's destiny to help me heal my wounds, and I would help him make the Qin Dynasty immortal for ten thousand generations."

"He collected all the weapons in the land, cast twelve golden statues, and suppressed the dragon veins of the nine provinces. He also used a million laborers and the strength of the entire nation to build an unprecedented underground divine kingdom."

"That mausoleum is no ordinary tomb. It was the final ascension base prepared by the First Emperor for the entire Chinese nation—a massive... hibernation pod!"

boom!

Qian Youmin's brain felt as if it had been struck by a million bolts of lightning at the same time!

Ascend Base Station!

Hibernation pod!

"Now, it's time to awaken it."

Golden light burst forth from the dragon-shaped necklace, forming an incredibly complex and majestic three-dimensional map on the holographic screen—it was the internal structure of Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, its precision and grandeur far exceeding any modern imagination!

A golden command slowly appeared in the center of the map.

[Heavenly Court Mission Number One: Return to the Imperial Mausoleum]

[Mission Objective: Using Kunlun as the focal point, activate the current national destiny of China, channel it into the underground palace, and awaken the dormant battle spirits of the million terracotta warriors.]

[Ultimate goal: to use a million battle spirits as 'fuel' and twelve golden men as 'furnace'...]

[Reforging... "Investiture of the Gods"!]